This invention relates to a bicycle component suitable for facilitating freestyle tricks, and more particularly, to a bicycle component which includes a rotatable ball bearing adapted to be positioned at the ends of the bicycle handle or on the bicycle pedals for reducing abrasion when one of the handles and/or pedals contacts the floor during performance of a freestyle bicycle trick.
Although riding a bicycle remains a popular recreational sport for many people, bicycles are being increasingly used in the sport known as freestyling. This involves performing various tricks and stunts with a bicycle, including those known as wheelies, drop-ins, the surfer, and the infinity roll.
When performing many of these tricks, the bicycle is often oriented almost completely horizontal, i.e., with its wheel axies almost vertical, and with the body of the rider extending upward and out. As a result, the handles and the pedals of the bicycle are often scraping along the ground while the bike is in motion. This is not desirable since the friction produced reduces the speed of the bicycle, produces turning torques that are difficult to control, and may even cause the bicycle to come to an abrupt stop, thereby increasing the risk of injury to the bicycle freestyler. The motion of the bicycle can become radically dependent upon the coefficient of sliding friction of the road surface, something that could change abruptly.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a bicycle and a bicycle accessory which overcome these disadvantages and which enable a bicycle freestyler to perform tricks with the bicycle when placed in a substantially horizontal position without causing substantial friction at the handles or the pedals.